On the wedding day, my wife was abnormal

Chapter 1420 Everyone Instantly Backs Down!

Wang Yun's roar was like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirring up huge waves in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Those officials whose names were called seemed to have found their anchor and began to stir.

“That’s right! Zhang Jianzhi, you’re using your position to settle personal scores and slandering an official of the court!” Wang Lang, the Vice Minister of Rites, also jumped out. He and Wang Yun were from the same clan, so they were naturally united in their hatred.

"We are all loyal to the country and the people, how can you accuse us of treason? Produce the evidence!"

"Exactly! Without evidence, it's a frame-up! According to the laws of our Great Qian Dynasty, framing an official of the court is punishable as much as the crime itself! Zhang Jianzhi, how dare you!"

For a time, the crowd was excited.

A dozen or so officials surrounded Zhang Jianzhi, spitting as they spoke, each of them acting as if they were more wronged than Dou E.

It was as if they were not sinners about to be punished, but loyal subjects persecuted by treacherous officials.

Some centrist officials, unaware of the facts, began to whisper among themselves as they watched the spectacle.

"What's wrong with this prime minister today? He impeached so many people at once, all for crimes punishable by the extermination of nine generations of their families. Isn't this making a huge fuss?"

"Yes, and look, most of those impeached are connected to the Li family of Jiangxi. Could it be that this prime minister is trying to use this opportunity to suppress powerful families?"

"It's hard to say, it's hard to say. These three great families are deeply entrenched and powerful in the Great Qian Dynasty. By doing this, Prime Minister Zhang has offended them to the death."

Discussions rose and fell.

Many people's eyes began to show complicated expressions.

Their gazes toward Zhang Jianzhi carried a hint of suspicion.

Grand Tutor Yuan Wei stood at the forefront of the officials, without uttering a word.

His cloudy eyes were slightly narrowed, like an old fox taking a nap.

He sneered inwardly as he watched Zhang Jianzhi, who remained unmoved despite being surrounded by the crowd.

Zhang Jianzhi, do you think you can bring us down just because you got Li Zeyu's confession?

too naive.

What kind of evidence can the confession of a traitor be considered?

I'd like to see how you and that little maid sitting on the phoenix throne will end up.

Despite the public outcry, Zhang Jianzhi showed no sign of panic.

He simply waited quietly for them to finish speaking.

Then, he slowly opened his mouth, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"evidence?"

He sneered and raised the memorial in his hand high.

"This is the evidence!"

"The memorial details all the evidence of each and every one of you colluding with the Li family of Jiangxi, embezzling public funds, and even selling military intelligence!"

"If you don't believe me, you're welcome to come and see for yourselves!"

"Nonsense!" Wang Yun pointed at him and angrily rebuked, "Who knows if your memorial is fabricated out of thin air? We are not convinced!"

"That's right! We disagree!"

"Your Majesty, please uphold justice for us!"

The impeached officials all knelt on the ground, facing Murong Yan on the Phoenix Terrace, weeping bitterly.

It was as if they were the loyal ministers who had suffered a great injustice.

Zhang Jianzhi, on the other hand, was a treacherous official who deceived his superiors and brought disaster to the country and its people.

All eyes were drawn to the stunningly beautiful empress on the Phoenix Terrace, who had been silently watching this farce unfold from beginning to end.

They awaited her verdict.

Murong Yan's face remained completely expressionless.

Her clear, moon-like phoenix eyes swept over the "loyal ministers" kneeling on the ground below, wailing and crying, and a mocking smile appeared on her lips.

She did not speak, but slowly stood up from the phoenix throne that symbolized supreme imperial power.

Today, she is dressed in full court attire.

The jet-black phoenix-themed dress and the magnificent shawl embroidered with a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix accentuated her noble and majestic figure.

A five-zhang-long, dark gold train silently cascaded down from the nine-story phoenix platform as she rose.

Like a giant black net woven from power and authority, it firmly captures everyone's fear and unease.

On the hem of her skirt, the colossal phoenix woven from real gold thread, illuminated by hundreds of palace lanterns in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, seemed to come alive with its gleaming phoenix eyes. Those cold phoenix eyes swept over the officials below, with the indifference of a god looking down on ants.

An invisible, supreme majesty belonging to the Empress instantly enveloped the entire hall.

All the noise disappeared at that moment.

The entire Hall of Supreme Harmony became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Murong Yan walked slowly to the edge of the Phoenix Terrace.

"You're not convinced?" Her voice was soft, yet filled with authority. "You're saying that Minister Zhang is framing you?"

Wang Yun and the others were overjoyed, thinking that their pleas had worked.

Ultimately, the young empress dared not offend all the powerful families and punish them.

"Your Majesty is wise!" Wang Yun hurriedly kowtowed. "Our loyalty to the Great Qian Dynasty and to Your Majesty is as clear as day!"

"Is that so?" Murong Yan smiled. "Since you all claim to be loyal subjects, I will give you a chance to prove your innocence."

“Zhao Gao.” She turned to look at Zhao Gao, the chief eunuch, who stood solemnly outside the hall like a gatekeeper.

"Your servant is here," Zhao Gao replied, bowing.

"Issue my decree." Murong Yan's voice suddenly turned cold. "Drag all these 'loyal ministers' who are crying out for justice out of the palace! Give them eighty strokes of the cane! After that, take them to the imperial prison for a thorough interrogation!"

"I want to see just how tough their bones are!"

Eighty strokes of the cane!

That was one of the harshest punishments the emperor used to punish ministers who made mistakes.

Let alone eighty, even twenty would be enough to keep a pampered civil official in bed for a year or two.

After eighty strokes of the cane, would they still be alive?

"No! Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!"

Wang Yun was the first to react. He knelt on the ground like a mad dog and kowtowed desperately to Murong Yan on the Phoenix Terrace. His forehead was quickly smashed and turned bloody by the hard gold bricks.

"Your Majesty, I know I was wrong! I am guilty! I beg Your Majesty for leniency!"

At this point, how could he dare to be stubborn?

The other dozen or so officials also realized what was happening, and they were all so frightened that they wet themselves and cried for their parents.

"Your Majesty, we were confused for a moment, and we beg Your Majesty to punish us!"

“What Zhang Xiang said is absolutely true! We deserve to die!”

"Your Majesty, please spare our lives, for we once rendered great service to the Great Qian Dynasty!"

The entire Hall of Supreme Harmony was filled with wailing and howling sounds of people begging for mercy.

The centrist officials around them, who still held a sliver of sympathy for them, all showed expressions of disdain upon seeing their pathetic, groveling behavior.

Grand Tutor Yuan Wei, watching the farce unfold before him, had a barely perceptible shadow of gloom flash across his slightly narrowed old eyes.